Flexible dispensing head for pressurized containers



Dec. 2, 1958 R. D. COOKSLEY ET AL 2,862,643

FLEXIBLE DISPENSING HEAD FOR PRESSURIZED CONTAINERS Filed July 8, 1954Unite States atefi I FLEXIBLE. DISPENSING ilIEAD. FOR. PRESSURIZED'CONTAINERS -Applica'ti0nJuly 8, 1954, Serial N 0. 442,134 1" Claim. (Cl.222'--394) This invention relates to pressurized containers andmoreparticularly=to aflexible dispensing head construction therefor.

It is: the principal object: of this inventionto provide adispensing-head for a press'urized'container which can be assembledmerely by hand, press fitting the head uponz hie container nipple or topand which has a flexible diaphragm with a hollow. stem thereon, which,when the head,is depressed, mechanically opens the valve of the leaded,containerg and, by the slots in the lower end of the stern, meters thecontents being dispensed.

112185 another object of the, invention to providev adispensing headassemblyfor pressurizedv containerswhich canbe. readilytestedand alteredfor-the type of" spray pattern desired, simply by having onhanddispensing heads with different size metering; slots in their stems andpressbuttons, that sit upon the endof thestems with difierent sizemixing chambers and discharge orifices, and snapping onlor physicallytrying the diflerentheads and press, buttons, until the desired spraypattern is obtained.

It isstill another object of. the invention to provide a pressurizedcontainer that has a springless valve with a diaphragmtype dispensinghead that will have a v fast I nd S arp, cut-oli'of. the contents as thefinger isremoved from the head assembly.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a pressurizedcontainer nipple and dispensingwhead assembly wherein the containernipple hasa depressed conical end face adapted to receive thediaphragm'as', the head is depressed to cause its stem to open thespringless valve in the container nipple whereby the space about thedischarge hole may, besubstantially closed as the, contents are beingdispensed so. thatithe loss of the conten tsvafter the flow has beendiscontinued is kept to a minimum and wherein such slight amount ofexcess 7 gas trappedund'er the diaphragm will be utilizedon expanding toassist in the return-of-the diaphrag i' to its normal position. v

- It is a still'further object of the invention to provide a pressurizedcontainer which has a soft touch valve and dispensing head assemblywhereby to minimize finger fatigue.

It is -still a' furth erobject of the invention to; provide adispensing. head for a pressurized container'which; is formed of a;single molded plastic piece and which has a-. dia'phra gmwith anintegral projection thereonthat, upon being depressed, operates thevalve of the pressurized containerl'ying within the nipple thereof. V

- Still further objects of the invention are to; provide a sprayldispensing head for pressurizedv containers [which is'rof .simpleconstruction;inexpensive to manufacture,

m y be tha'cle'b'f plastic, has a minimum-number of par'ts,

easy to assemble upoii' the contain en cornpact, durable, sanitary, ofpleasing appearance,eificient and efiective in use.

v For other objects and a better understandingof the invention,reference may be had to the following detailed l 2,862,648 V-. RaientedDec. 2, 195

2., description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, inwhich: I

Figure 1, is' aperspective and collective view ofv the plasticpressurized container having a dispensing head constructed according toone form of the present invention with portions of the container beingbroken away to show theflinternal parts ofthelcontainer; i

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional viewfof the topassembly andls'howing the flexible dispensingheadland-its,relationshipto the flexible two-way springless valve, thehead being elevated 'a'nd the" valve being closed, the-vieW-being takenon line 22 of Fig.1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the samelines-2 of Fig. 1, but'with the head-and its stern depressed andthevalve openand with arrows iridicating'the path of the contents uponbeing discharged from the container;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken across the integral hollowstem of the head and on line 4-4 of Fig. 3; 1

Fig.5 is a'fragmentary perspective viewlooking from below and uponthe-lower end of the integral hollow stem ofithe dispensing head andshowing the radialmetering' slots oropenings for. controlling the flowof the contentsientering'the stern and'the discharge of the s'ametotheiatmospherei 'Referringnow: particularly to Figs. 1' to 5, 10representsta plastic container body adapted to withstand internalpressure andwhichis closed at its upper end'by a, tight plastic: top cap11 having an annular shoulder flange-:12; resting upon the upper edge ofthe container bjody;1'0.- The top cap 1 1' in addition to beingtight-fitted is preferably cemented in order to'provide aher'meticallysealed container that will; withstand the internal pressure of thegaspropellant. Theupper end of the body'10 is, recessed and-shouldered asindicated at 13 to receive thecap. I

The bottom, of the container body- 10 has centering projections 14whichare angularly=spaced fromone another and. support arigid syphontube-15 in; anelevated position, in orderfro-permitv the contents of thecontainer to enter. the lower end thereof; The top-capll isser-.ratedtaboutitsperiphery as indicated at. 16v to-providea good gripupon. the.container: and: to render the bottl e or, eont ainctattractive.and of. pleasing appearance I I The top cap 11 has a centraldepending skirt portion 1 f,7 and an upwardly-extending neck .oroutwardlyrextending nipple 18 that has adepressed tconical top face 19fla in ntwardw from a, central discharge opening. 20 adjacent the lowerend of which is an internal. valveseat 21 frorn which the upper end 22fof a flexible, two-way springless valve 22' normally bulges or balloonsdue to the pressure of the contents, as shown in Fig. 2 tolhold s qnt nte t ne p nding ro th pp r 's'eatin'g lend 22"of the; valve 22 is astraight cylindrical Wall that maintains ,control of the sjeating'end 22when itis depressed fronrits seat 21. The valve is hollow and has an'annular portion 25 withescape holes 26 therein. Thisfi-ang'e portion isdished on its top surface and the upper end of'rig'id' syphontube 15bears against its lowerasurface to hold the valve 22 within the sleevepor- I tior12:1:7-1at 'the outer periphery of the flange 25 against a 1Qfi'aQtaperedand cylindrical internal. neck wall 28,;915 V the'capsurrounding the cylindrical valve wall 23 are a plurality ofangularly-spaced guide fins 28 which guide the upper end 22 of the valve22, when it is depressed. A vertical recess 29 extends to the seat 21 atone side of the nipple wall to carry a portion of the contents,

head from being disengaged therefrom due to the pressure of thecontents. The dispensing head 33 is formed of flexible plastic and hasaflexible diaphragm 34 adapted to be depressed so that its bottom facewill be pressed toward or engage the depressed conical surface 19 of thenipple 18 to close ofi the space therebetween at times when the contentsof the container are being dispensed to thereby minimize the loss of thecontents after the flow of the contents has been discontinued.

In the center of the diaphragam 34 is an integral hollow stem 35 thatdepends downwardly and protrudes outwardly therefrom. This stem 35 isrelatively thick and rigid and has radially extending angularly-spacedmetering slots 36 on its lower end so that any of the contents passingover the valve and under the seat 21 will be metered to a central hole37 in the stem and upwardly therethrough. These slots 36 may be variedin size and number depending upon the nature of the contents and sprayform which is desired. Several heads with different slots may beeconomically provided. The assembler may snap over the neck andphysically try the different heads to get the desired spray pattern forthe given contents to be dispensed.

The outwardly protruding end of the stem 35 is sufficiently long toaccommodate a spray discharge press button 38 having a downwardly curvedtop surface 39 i for receiving a thumb or finger by which the same isdepressed. The press button sets upon and is tightly fitted to the endof the stem. The press button 38 has a side spray orifice 41 leadingfrom a mixing chamber 42 with the central hole 37 of the stem 35. Alightening hole 43 extends into the press button 38 to reduce the weightand bulkiness of the press button 38.

The press button is small and thus press buttons with different sizespray orifices and mixing chambers may be economically provided. ,By achange from one button to another, when taken with a change of onedispensing head for another, the package or container can be easilyadapted for the diiferent fluids to be dispensed and the spray patterndesired. p

A decorative over-cap 44 can be fitted over the pressure button 38 andfrictionally secured upon the dispensing head 33. This over-cap is apart of the package when purchased and may be retained therewiththroughout its use. It prevents the accidental and inadvertent pressingof the button 38 and waste of the contents.

To dispense the contents, the over-cap 44 is removed, and the pressbutton 38 is easily depressed with the forefinger while holding thepackage in the hand. This press button pushes down the stem 35 and theflexible diaphragm 34 of the dispensing head 33 so thatthe lower end ofthe stem 35 forces the upper end 22 of valve 22 from its seat 21 in themanner illustrated in Fig. 3, thereby permitting the contents to escapeupwardly through the openings 26 of the valve, vertical recess 29, underthe seat 21, through the radial metering slots 36, stem hole 37, pressbutton chamber 42 and discharged from the button spray orifice 41. Allthis time there is little opportunity for the contents to accumulateunder the diaphragm 34 in any great amount so as to 4 be later wasted,as the bottom face of the diaphragm will substantially close upon theconical face 19 of the nipple leaving little chamber space about thedischarge opening 20 for the contents to accumulate.

Upon release of the press button 38, the diaphragm 34 is quicklyreturned to its initial position by the action of the internal pressureof the contents upon the valve and by the aid of small amounts ofexpanding propellant gas accumulated under the diaphragm so that theflow of the contents is quickly shut off and discontinued.

It should now be apparent that there has been provided a dispensing headfor pressurized containers adapted for cooperation with the nippleportion of the top cap which is so formed and shaped as to permit easydeflection of the valve element to dispense the contents and a quickreturn of the head diaphragm to cause a sharp and quick out 01f of theflow of the contents and wherein the contents are kept confined within asmall space about the nipple portion so that there is little loss of thecontents after, release of the finger from the dispensing head.

It should also be apparent that there has been provided dispensing headparts for pressurized containers which are inexpensive to manufactureand which permit the use of heads with different size discharge slotsand press buttons with'difierent size mixing chambers and spray orificesso that the assembler can quickly try 7 upon the container several untilhe gets the spray form desired.

While various changes may be made in the detailed construction, it shallbe understood that such changes shall be within the spirit and scope ofthe present invention as defined by the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

In a pressurized container, a container assembly having anoutwardly-extending nipple portion thereon, said nipple portion having adischarge opening and a seat adjacent the lower end of the dischargeopening, a valve element operable in the nipple portion and normallyretained against the seat by the pressure of the contents withinthecontainer, said nipple portion having a depressed conical outer endface flaring outwardly from the outer end of the discharge opening, aflexible dispensing head tightly fitted upon the nipple portion andhaving a depressible diaphragm overlying the conical end face, saiddiaphragm having an integral tubular projection depending into thedischarge opening of the nipple portion and through which the contentsis discharged, said tubular projection being engageable with the valveelement to force the valve element from its seat, upon the dispensinghead being depressed, said diaphragm normally lying awayffrom theconical faceof the nipple and seated upon the conical end face whendepressed to minimize the space thereunder whereby to prevent thecontents from collecting under the diaphragm when the container is usedand the ultimate loss thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED ST AT ES PATENTS

